For everyone who needs a little inspiration today

— a beautiful sunset, love, a well written book, a testimonial of someone losing 100 pounds, hearing your favorite song on the radio, seeing someone accomplish what you want so badly want to do —

Inspiration is an amazing phenomenon. You can be inspired by almost anything. We are inspired by those who live and even more so by those who die. Inspiration makes you try new things that you would otherwise never think you could achieve. It makes us write, sing, try to be better people, hold our heads a little higher, think we are brave, believe in the unbelievable. It gives us hope, which leads to faith. It can travel so far as lying in the grass, staring at the sky, believing it’s yours, and then soaring through it.

— The sound of a pencil on paper, your friends, a picture of a fond memory, someone challenging you to move forward, an e-mail or letter from someone you’ve been thinking about, a conversation with someone who can see right through you and still not judge you —

With all that is in this world to inspire us, it makes me wonder why there are so few of us who truly are. Can we look up for two seconds to see the clouds as they slowly pass by? Can we stop running for a moment to listen to something (or someone) you’ve taken for granted all this time? Can we open our minds at all to realize that there are other opinions out there, and not just our own?

I’ve tried for awhile now to have an open mind and I found out something amazing:

1) You can learn so much from other people just because they aren’t you.

2) People are more likely to open up when they don’t feel like they’re being judged.

3) There is a frightening number of people with closed minds.

4) Those with open minds tend to attract those with closed minds.

5) If you have an open mind, you will not be heard by those with closed minds, no matter how hard you try.

Why do we settle on having only one opinion in our world when it’s so much more freeing to hear many? Even if you don’t agree, hearing someone else’s ideas is one of the most inspiring things I have found in my short life.

People just want to be heard.

— Coming home to the smell of a “truly” home-cooked meal, being yourself for a change, counting your blessings, getting a new pair of shoes (believe me, some are pretty inspiring!), watching some tv shows or movies, dreaming about the future, forgiving someone who deeply hurt you —

I’m not saying that I have lived my life inspired, or have had the courage to be myself, but it is something I’m growing into. I have lost friends because of this, but I am closer now to the ones I have.

This is dedicated to the one who inspired me in more ways than he’ll ever know: to try, to open up, to have faith, to be me, to live. Thank you, I will see you again someday.